banana_recordzfandomcom-20200213-history
Jamal Andrew
Jamal Okoye Madaki Akerele (born 14 April 1977), also known by his professional name Jamal Andrew, is a South African music producer, musician, and songwriter. Life and career Akerele was born in Cape Town, South Africa on 14 April 1977. Until 2001, Akerele lived in his hometown, working as a music producer for local musicians and singers (predominantly producing afrobeat and funk music). At the age of 24, Akerele relocated to Sydney, Australia where he strengthened his English and began producing for other local musicians. In 2007, Andrew relocated to Los Angeles, California, however after believing it to be too expensive and losing several jobs, he moved back to Sydney. In March 2009, Andrew was offered a recording contract with Bysa Records in New York City, where he subsequently relocated. He released his debut album False Bay that December. Named after the neighbourhood he grew up in, the album received mostly positive reviews from music critics however was a commercial failure, selling less than 150 copies during its first week of availability. In January 2010, he began working on his second album, planning to release it independently once his three-year contract with Bysa expired. During his brief time at Bysa, he met Canadian singer-songwriter Josh Kingston who was briefly signed with the record label before moving to Banana Music Group. Andrew and Kingston were both dropped from Bysa in January 2012 following the label's declaration of bankruptcy. In June 2012, Kingston collaborated with Andrew on "Eyes Open", a song which appeared on an August 2012 re-issue of Kingston's second album'' In January. Andrew finished work on his second album in September 2012 however put the album on hold after he was hired to serve as the sole producer on Kingston's third album ''Up in Flames ''after Kingston had worked with Nick Roads on his previous two albums. ''Up in Flames was released in June 2013 and was a commercial success for Banana Music. Following the album's completion, Andrew began researching independent music releases in order to plan the release of his second album. In November 2013, Kingston hired Andrew to produce his fourth album, once again putting Andrew's second album on hold. Recording for Kingston's album began the following month, with Andrew again serving as the sole musical producer, however Andrew's role on the album was eventually reduced and on 1 May 2014, Kingston announced that Andrew had been fired from the project due to "creative differences". Kingston stated that the two songs he had already recorded with Andrew would remain on the album however that Roads would replace Andrew during future recording sessions. Kingston's album is expected to be released in summer 2014. On 22 May 2014, Andrew announced on Twitter that he would return to the studio in June to "finally" finish his second album for a summer release. On 27 June 2014, he announced that his second album Elektroniese Tyd (meaning "electronic age") would be released on 29 September 2014. He confirmed that several collaborators had recorded guest vocals for the album. Discography 'Studio albums' *''False Bay'' (2009) *''Elektroniese Tyd ''(2014)